Collapsible garment hanger



INVENTOR T/zomas L. lrer ATTORNEY April 29, 1952 'r. VARKER COLLAPSIBLE GARMENT HANGER Filed 0G13. 2l, 1949 atented -pr. 29, 1952 Application October 21, 1949, Serial No. 122,751

Claims.

This invention relates to garment hangers and more particularly to collapsible type garment hangers. 2-

The garment hangers of the present invention are of the type that include a rigid hook member, a clip that is also substantially rigid, to which the hook is attached, and a pair of supporting arms, one of which projects laterally from either side of vthe said clip and wherein the supporting arms are pivotally secured to and operate on certain securing means associated with the clip and, further, wherein the said pivoted arms are under spring tension and are normally maintained in a position where the said arms, as aforesaid, extend laterally one from each side of the said clip.

Further, the collapsible garment hangers of the present invention are of the type where the aforesaid laterally extending arms are preferably made of spring wire or the like and are inherently springy and are maintained under spring tension due tothe inherent springy nature of the wire or the like from which these arms are fabricated.

My collapsible garment hanger is adaptable for use in homes; manufacturing plants, plants where blouses, shirts, etc. are manufactured; laundries where blouses, shirts or the like are laundered, both washed and ironed; and for supporting garments oi various types of apparel in wholesale and retail stores and particularly wherein the said garments, whatever type they may be, are provided with buttons or other securing means, whereby, when the same are closed by the buttons or zip-per fasteners and where it is desired to readily remove the garment from the hanger or vice verse without unbuttoning or otherwise opening the garment. a

In thehome, the garment hanger is ideally adapted for supporting shirt waists, blouses and other articles of apparel that are hung on the garment hanger and buttoned, thus making it possible, by a simple manual collapsing of one or both of the sp-ringy pivoted arms, to remove the garment from the hanger without unbuttoning the garment. For instance, where the garment hanger is hung on a rod in the closet, it is a very simple matter to remove a buttoned blouse, shirt waist, or the like therefrom without unbuttoning the same by simply collapsing .the laterally extending springarms of the hanger which pass through the buttoned opening of a garment.

In manufacturing plants where shirt. waists,

ldealuse of my garment hangers, both as to' saving time and effort on the part of theindividuals working on or handling the garment, is present in that the workers need not go through the process of buttoning and unbuttoning garments for placing them on and removing them from hangers and the garments that are on my hangers are Ireadily removed by simply collapsing the laterally extending spring arms and the buttoned garment passes over these arms.

Likewise, in laundries, where certain experts, either in the cleaning or ironing of a blouse, shirt waist or the like, must perform certain functions such as spotters and expert touchers in the ironing operation, the garments, when on hangers of my invention and are buttoned, can readily be removed from the hangers without unbuttoning the same and the Worker can then perform his or her function on the garment, whatever it may be, without unbuttoning the same and, in that buttoned condition, the garment can then readily be reapplied to the hanger in accordance with the present invention by simply collapsing the arms; namely, moving them toward each other, and slipping the same through the opening ofthe buttoned garment and allowing the arms to assume their normal laterally extended position, under which circumstances, the said arms will automatically open outwardly and project into the sleeves or arm holes of the garment.

Then too, in connection with garments on hangers fabricated in accordance with the present invention and which hangers with the garments buttoned thereon are suspended on racks or the like, one may simply take ablouse, shirt waist, etc. that is buttoned, and without taking it from the hanger, fold it,` using a cardboard or other form rif desired,v in a box with the hanger in the garment and then, by collapsing the arms, readily remove the" hangerfrom the garment without disturbing its folded or packed condition in the box or other container.

In addition to the foregoing, .the pivoted, spring, laterally extending arms of my hanger, when brought 'toward each other and, further, moved into an overlapping condition, where the main portions of each of the arms have been moved off center with regard to their axis 'of pivotation, the two arms of the hanger will Athen be maintained in a' collapsed and overlapping condition. and, thus, considerable space is provided in shipping a large number of such hangers.

A sharp distinction is to be drawn between my collapsible garment hangers and so-called collapsible garment hangers of the prior art. In

the prior art devices, there are certain arms of 4a garment hanger that are pivotally mounted' but for a different purpose than my invention;'name 1y, that the pivotally mounted arms of the prior art devices are mainly for collapsibilityand compactness in shipping or for storing the hangers in a traveling bar or the like. Thus, it is clear that these prior art collapsible hangers are entirely different from my hangers in that my hangers embody inherent spring-type laterally extending arms that are normally maintained in their laterally extending positions at either side of a supporting clip or the like and, when moved toward each other, these arms are under spring tension and, if released at any point, beforethey are moved to overlapping position and off center of their axis of pivotation, the said arms will automatically spring back to their outstanding or laterally extending condition; namely, one arm at each side of the central supporting clip.

With the above in mind, it is an object of my invention to provide a collapsible garment hanger consisting of relatively few parts and totally devoid of any vseparate spring means, as'

such,` and providing inherently springy pivoted, laterally extending arms, supported on a central clip or the like, and which arms are normally maintained in their laterally extending position but are capable of being moved toward each other, and when released, will automatically assume their proper positions; namely, an arm laterally extending from each side of a central supporting clip or the like.

Another object of my invention is to provide a collapsible garment hanger consisting of a relatively few parts and yet one that will be eiicient and durable for a long period of servicev and will satisfactorily support various types of garments..

in the home or various industrial plants.

Another object of my invention is to provide a collapsible garment hanger that is to support various types of garments that are buttoned and wherein the garment hanger allows the buttoned garment to be removed therefrom without undue manual manipulation and this being accomplished by the supporting arms of the hanger being collapsible and withdrawable through the buttoned opening of the garment.

Another object of my invention is to provide a garment hanger consisting of` a minimum numl ber of simple and relatively inexpensive parts; namely, a central supporting clip to which is attached the supporting hook for the garment hangerrandwhich clip has pivotally attached thereto two outstanding laterally extending inl herently springy supporting arms.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction within the scope of the claims may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacricing the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figi is a front velevational view of vmy co1- lapsible garment hanger, showing in full lines the spring arms laterally extending from either side of the central clip and, in dotted lines, these said arms in overlapped condition;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the garment hanger of Fig. 1 but showing a part of the central clip removed and showing the arms in their laterally `extending condition in dotted lines, and in full lines, the arms are shown in their overlapped condition;v

Fig. 3 i's a' view taken along the lines of 3-3 4 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view showing certain ofthe elements in full lines taken substantially on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1.

The invention will be more readily understood by referring to the drawings in detail wherein like reference numerals in the several figures of the drawings all denote the same parts.

The collapsible garment hanger consists of four major elements or component parts; namely, the supporting hook denoted generally at 5, similarly loop shaped supporting arms denoted generally at 6 and l and the central clip denoted generally at 8. The central clip 8 preferably consists of two similarly shaped substantially rectangular inner and outer plates 9 and I0 respectively, the upper portions of which II and l i2 are in contacting. relationship and the extreme upper edges of which portions are curved as at I3. Below the upper contacting portions of the plates 9 and I0 and, as provided by the bight portions I3 and I4, these plates provide a space I5 between the inner faces of the same.

The two plates 9 and I9 are held together in their aforesaid association by means of rivets, pins or the like I6, Il and I8, the rivet I6 also serving to hold the end of the hook rigidly in association with the clip as this rivet passes through an eye I9 at the end of the hook, see Fig. 4. All of the said rivets, as will be noted, are in substantially vertical alignment. The shanks of the rivets I1 and I8, that are disposed in spaced relation in the space I5 between the two plates, not only serve to hold the plates together but also as a means of pivotation for the ends, in the form of eyes 20 and 2i, of the garment supporting arm 'I and the eyes 22 and 23 at the ends of the garment supporting arm 6. In other words, each of the ends of the arms 6 and 1, and which arms are in the form of elongated spring loops, are in the form of eyes that are positioned about the shank portion of the rivets I1 and I8 disposed in the space I5 formed between the inner sides of the plates 9 and I0.

The supporting arms 6 and 'I are preferably made of spring steel wire, which is inherently springy, and the ends provided with eyes and mounted on the Shanks of the rivets I1 and I8 placing the arms 6 and 'I under a natural spring tension, which spring tension normally exerts it self to maintain the arms in their laterally or outwardly extending position or condition as shown in Fig. l ofthe drawing. It is to be noted .Y that the space I5 between the two plates 9 and I0 opens atv both sides and the bottom of the clip thus allowing one or both of the spring arms 6 and I to move through a portion of the arc of a circle toward each other under spring tension.

Each plate 9 and IIJ, above the rivet I1, is ,provided with a shoulder or an abutment 24, which abutments act as a stop means to limit the movement of each of the arms 6 and 1 and thus maintains these arms in their normally laterally outwardly extending position. The aforesaid rivets, of course, are headed or upset on both sides of the plates in order to maintain them in theirrespective positions and to serve, as aforesaid, as a means of pivotation of the arms as well as a means to secure the two plates constituting the clip together.

It is clear from the foregoing that, if the arms 5 and 'l are moved toward each other, when viewing the same as in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 ofthe drawings', and released, the said arms will snap or spring back to their outstanding or laterally extending condition, which is the condition for normal support of a garment'l thereon. Assuming that there is a blouse, shirt waist or other buttoned garment, not shown, on the garment hanger, and when the arms thus brought toward each other, the garment that is supported thereon will, by gravity, fall oil? the hanger and, of course, could be caught in the hand without falling onto the iioor or other surface and the garment that is buttoned would slip right off of the arms without unbuttoning of the garment. A reversal of this process is pursued in placing a garment on the hanger; namely, the arms may be brought toward each other and held temporarily until they are inserted within the opening of a buttoned garment and then released thus automatically snapping away from each other and into the arm holes or sleeves of the garment and the said stops or abutments will limit the upward movement of these arms.

When the arms 5 and l are moved toward each other and to the dotted line overlapping condition or position as shown in Fig. 2, the pivoted portions of these arms, which are about the rivets i1 and I8, will be OIT vertical center so to speak and the arms in their overlapped condition as shown in Figs. l and 2, will be locked or held in that condition and to be released therefrom, each of the arms must necessarily be moved out oi overlapping relationship with respect to the other arm. When the pivoted portions of the arms are moved to their center point of pivotation and, as these arms are under spring tension, they will from that position both snap or spring back to the laterally extending position or condition as shown in Fig. l.

While I have shown the central clip, which is preferably rigid and of metal, being made of two parts, it is understood that this clip could be n made of one piece ofmetal and simply overlapped instead o being made of the two separate pieces of metal as disclosed in the drawings, and, of course, providing an opening in the bight portion for the shank of the hook to extend therethrough.

I claim:

1. A collapsible garment hanger comprising a clip having means attached thereto for supporting the same, said clip having a pair of vertically spaced pins carried thereby, and a substantially U-shaped supporting arm disposed on each side of said clip, each arm lying in a plane substantially perpendicular to the axes of said pins, said arms being formed of resilient wire-like elements providing upper and lower legs having their terminals pivotally connected to the upper and lower pins, respectively, said arms normally being disposed in horizontally extending relation to said clip and being downwardly pivotally movable placing the upper legs under tension and the lower legs under compression so that the arms resiliently upwardly return to their normal positions when released from downward movement.

2. A collapsible garment hanger comprising a clipI including a pair of plates joined at their upper ends and spaced at their lower ends, a pair of vertically spaced pins interconnecting said plates at the spaced portions thereof, and a hook attached to said plates at the joined portions thereof, a supporting arm disposed on each side of said clip and lying in a plane substantially perpendicular to the axes of said pins, said arms being formed of resilient U-shaped wire-like elements providing upper and lower legs having their terminals pivotally connected to the upper and lower pins, respectively, said arms being ncrmally resiliently maintained in horizontally exending relation to said clip and being downwardly pivotally movable placing the upper legs under tension and the lower legs under compression so that the arms resiliently upwardly return to their normal positions when released from downward movement.

3. A collapsible garment hanger comprising a clip having supporting means therefor, said clip including a pair of plates joined at their upper ends, spaced at their lower ends and providing a shoulder between the upper and lower ends, a pair of vertically spaced pins interconnecting said plates at the spaced portions thereof below said shoulder, a supporting arm disposed on each side of said clip and lying in a plane substantially perpendicular to the axes of said pins, said arms being formed of resilient ll-shaped wire-like elements providing upper and lower legs having their terminals pivotally connected to said pins, said lower leg normally being under compression and said upper leg normally being under tension and abutting said shoulder whereby said arms are normally maintained in their extended ypositions and are downwardly movable upon the application of suflicient force on said arms to overcome the forces exerted by the legs of each arm.

4. In a collapsible garment hanger including a clip and a hook therefor, a pair of vertically spaced pins secured to the clip, and a substantially U-shaped supporting arm disposed on each side of the clip, each arm being formed of resilient wire-like elements providing upper and lower legs having their terminals pivotally connected to the upper and lower pins, respectively, said arms being resiliently downwardly movable upon the application of force on said arms suilcient to overcome the stresses set up within said legs.

5. In a collapsible garment hanger including a clip and a hook therefor, a pair of vertically spaced pins secured to the clip, and a substantially U-shaped supporting arm disposed on each side of the clip, each arm being formed of resilient wire-like elements providing upper and lower legs of substantially equal length joined at one set of ends by a bight lportion, the other set of ends of said upper and lower legs being pivotally connected to the upper and lower pins, respectively, said arms being downwardly movable about said pins to a position wherein the resultant force of the stresses in each arm is past the dead center line dened by the pair of pins, at which position the arms are resiliently retained until returned past the dead center line.

THOMAS L. VARKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 678,073 Odgood July 9, 1901 900,567 Miles Oct. 6, 1908 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 286,525 Great Britain Mar. 8, 1928 

